Baby of the BAU
by Artemismoon91904
Summary: Everyone knows that Reid is the youngest member of the BAU. When his secret is revealed, the rest of the team takes it upon themselves to help him out of the mess he made for himself. (Takes place in/before Season 1, features bisexual!Reid as kind of a side note not a main thing in the plot.) T for strong language.
1. Shock

"Tell them... and you can go." The Unsub repeated to Reid, this time in a terrifyingly calm voice that put the team listening on the phone on edge more than the sounds of gun cocking that had followed.

Reid didn't have to ask what it was. That had been made quite clear to him, though nobody else. He just couldn't figure out what this Unsub who didn't know him would get out of it. That! He could stall until Garcia could get his location and the rest of his team could get to him.

"Why do you want me to? Nothing in my life effects you. Why go through the trouble of kidnapping and threatening me?" If he could help it, Reid's secret would stay just that. If only he could stall.

The gun cocked again and the Unsub readjusted his stance, pressing the barrel against Reid's temple.

"I'm getting impatient." He said.

"Why don't you just tell them? Why does it have to be me? If you know, and you want to 'ruin my life' or whatever your plan is by telling them, why not do it yourself? Unless you don't know what you're threatening me for. Did you just hear somewhere that I might possibly have a secret? Is that what you're basing all of this off?" Reid was getting more hopeful as he spoke. Nobody knew. How could they?

The Unsub was stuck. Reid hadn't profiled. He didn't realise how this one would react.

"Reid?" Hotch's voice came over the phone. "Whatever it is, we can help you. Nothing you could be hiding is worth your life. If it's done trouble you're in, we can get you out of it. Hell, if it's a murder charge we could get you off. We have a loose and incomplete profile but I am sure he will kill you."

"Aaron Hotchner is right." The Unsub taunted. "And I'll give you some incentive. You have one minute until I shoot you. Fifty-nine. Fifty-eight..."

"Reid, the team is on their way but they will not be there in less than a minute. Whatever it is... just say it." Hotch gave his final words of advice.

"Fifty-one, fifty, forty-nine..." the kidnapped continued counting.

"Okay, okay. Okay." Reid resigned. The counting continued, the approaching deadline not helping his heart beating in his ears. "It's not a big deal. It's just. Just some documents." He swallowed his fear, suddenly unsure of whether he could conjure the words before his time was up.

"Thirty-nine, thirty-eight. Hurry up, Spencer. Thirty-six..."

"Come on, Reid. I'm listening. It's okay." Hotch urged.

"It's not that bad. I didn't kill anyone. I didn't do anything wrong..." Reid tried to explain.

"Thirty, twenty-nine..."

"I believe you, Reid, just tell me what it is." Hotch got the feeling that he was talking to a scared child rather than a trained government agent.

"I can't. I can't. No. I can. It's fine. I'm fine." He breathed a little harder.

"Twenty-two, you're really bad at this, twenty, I thought you were better than this, thirty-seven..."

"I..." Reid tried.

"Reid, honey, I love you, but just spit it out already before that beautiful brain of yours has a bullet in it." Garcia interjected.

Reid sucked in the breath he needed, "I... I'm sorry. I lied. I'm... I'm sixteen years old. I faked everything. I'm so sorry."

The counting stopped. That was the only indication that Reid had told the truth. There was silence on the other side of the phone for a long while. The only sound in the warehouse room was Reid's heart and breathing.

"Well now that that's settled. Goodbye." He put the phone into his mouth and shot through it up into his own skull.

Reid was left alone. He finally let his tears fall. He knew they would find out eventually. He knew it was against the law. And he knew that now he would be fired, or at least suspended for two years until he was actually a legal adult if not prosecuted.

It took a few minutes for the warehouse door to fly open and white light beams to flood the room.

"Over here!" Reid knew it probably wouldn't help speed anything up. He had to do something. Being tied up and threatened always gave him the intense need to do something.

Morgan raced up to him, ignoring the sweep. "You alright?" He asked, quickly untying the binding ropes.

"Yeah. But he's not." Reid looked to the floor where the body of that wretched man lay bleeding his brains out.

Morgan called out that Reid was safe but there was a suicide. Reid rubbed his wrists where there would surely be rope burns later. He shouldn't have fought so hard.

Morgan helped Reid up but the Doctor pushed him off, "I can walk, I'm fine. Thanks."

Morgan let him go. "Hotch called." He said.

"Of course he did." Reid tried to walk ahead but he found that his head was spinning too much for him to speed.

"Look, Reid. I'm not mad or anything. I'm just worried about you and a little confused. Why would you lie about that?"

"If you don't mind, I would rather not continue with the questioning at me at the scene of my own kidnapping and psychological torture."

"Sorry." They walked in silence until the rest of the team ran up to them.

"Please not now." Reid said before anyone could say anything.

"Let's just get you home." J.J. briefly rested a comforting hand on Reid's shoulder.

"Yeah."

"But don't think you've avoided questioning." Gideon added.

"I don't."

Morgan helped Reid into a van, to which Reid tried but failed to push him away. They sat in the back together and Gideon drove.

"Why would you go through all the trouble of faking everything for this?" Morgan asked.

"No questions right now. Look, I'm in shock. Look at my face. Shock. Ask me when I'm not in shock."

Morgan sighed and did look at Reid's face. He knew the kid was young, but man. What the hell was he doing trying to get himself definitely scarred for life and possibly killed at sixteen?

"But for the record," Reid said anyway, "I didn't do it for this job."

"Then what for?" Morgan asked.

"Shock! Later!" Reid turned away.

Morgan almost smiled at how childish it was. He would've if they hadn't been driving back from the kidnapping of their youngest-by-far team member.


	2. Back to Work?

**AN: Thank you so much for all of the reviews. I am in awe, really. In response to the Guest reviewer, _: This is set during or even a little bit before season 1 so Reid says he is 23 here. The idea where William is to blame is a product of the beautiful mind of ahowell1993 (who also has some seriously impressive CM stories so check those out). Also, something has come to my attention. "** During October 2012, series creator Jeff Davis tweeted that Reid was originally envisioned to be bisexual, but the network shut the idea down by the fourth episode when Reid develops a crush on his colleague, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau.[11] **" Consider it done. It won't be main plot or anything, of course, but it will be a thing. What will also be a thing is Asperger's due to "** As is characteristic of people with Asperger's syndrome, Reid is socially awkward. He often fixates on things (prompting Morgan and other team members to have to tell him to be quiet), and misses social cues at times (for example, unknowingly changing the subject of a conversation). The Unknown Subject ("UnSub") in "Broken Mirror"[12] notes this, and Gubler stated in an interview in the show's second season "[Reid]'s an eccentric genius, with hints of schizophrenia and minor autism, Asperger's syndrome. Reid is 24 years old with three Ph.D.s and one cannot usually achieve that without some form of autism."[13] **" You don't have to read all of that. I was just explaining myself. Enjoy.**

Reid was relieved to be dropped home. He was afraid someone would insist that because he was so young he suddenly couldn't take care of himself and he would have to stay with them. He had been taking care of himself and his mother since they were abandoned. It wasn't any harder now that he generated his own income and paid taxes only for himself. If anything that made it easier.

The hospital wanted to keep him over night, but he'd talked them out of it. He last thing he wanted to do was be prodded at all night. He'd said that the best thing for him would to be in a familiar place alone in the quiet. Nurses called BS until he pulled the undiagnosed Aspergers card. Because nobody seems to know exactly what that entails, he was free to go but required to check in tomorrow. That was better than his other options.

Just as Reid had found a book that he hadn't read within the last week, his phone rang. He picked it up and said nothing.

"Reid?" Hotch was on the other end.

"It's three in the morning."

"You picked up after one ring."

Damnit. Reid sighed, "Your reason for calling?"

"I'm looking through your records and they seem seamless. How did you do it?"

"Why are you looking through my records at three in the morning?" Reid droned. He wanted to be reading right now. Respect for his boss didn't seem of utmost importance right now as he would probably be fired and arrested soon anyway. He hoped he was allowed books in prison. Could one request solitary confinement?

"Because this whole thing went down either very late at night or very early in the morning depending on perspective, and to me the case isn't closed yet. I'm doing what I usually do."

"No wonder you're always so tired."

"Reid."

"Hotch."

Hotch took a loud breath. "Assuming you didn't do this yourself, whoever faked your records did an amazing job. I know what I'm looking for and I still can't find where the jump was made."

"That's because there was no jump. I upped my age slowly so it would be less noticeable and just shifted back past dates to fit in with the timeline. That part was my idea." Reid flopped on his couch, giving up. If Hotch was looking for an unprovoked confession, he could have one.

"That was a good idea."

The line buzzed with silence for a while.

"Tomorrow I'm going to work with you and Garcia to try to put everything back to how it should be and maybe get you out of trouble in the process. You can't decline." Hotch said.

"I wasn't going to. So, should I consider myself fired?" His voice shook despite his best efforts.

"If you can get into the BAU you can stay. I don't think anyone is going to be checking to make sure that agents aren't teenagers after they've been employed for a year."

"Thank you." Reid mumbled guiltily like an apology.

"Don't mention it. Really, don't. We could all get in trouble."

"Good ni- morning?"

"Good morning." Hotch hung up the phone but Reid left it to his ear. He could almost hear Hotch's thoughts lingering on the line, saying 'liar, liar, dirty liar, criminal...'. Reid wasn't sure if he could face that. Of course, he would have to.

He sat down on the floor with his book and tried not to let his quietly falling tears ruin the pages. He fell asleep before he could finish reading.

He was woken up by his alarm from the bedroom (thankfully preset) and had to unstick his face from the book. He stared at the creases now permanently in the page he was on. There would be matching markings on his face which would hopefully fade.

He went through the motions, totally disconnected from himself. Maybe the shock actually had set in. Or just denial. He couldn't be sure of anything but that he felt weird. Maybe the pages of the book had contained subtle toxins that he had been exposed to...

Ridiculous. _Come on, Spencer._ He hit himself in the face and immediately felt ashamed. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed his coffee (which was very well deserved after last night) and left to take public transport instead of his own car. He could drive just fine, he just didn't want claims to be made and he not be allowed to drive home.

Too bad buses were _disgusting._ So many people touched him Reid was sure he would get some disease and die before he could be prosecuted of anything. Or before anything could be fixed, if Hotch was telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Which was very unlikely. This couldn't be fixed.

The walk to his desk seemed longer than it had ever been, full of people staring at him. They couldn't know. News spread quickly, but not so quickly that everyone on every floor would know he had broken the law. He was probably just paranoid... Or they were staring. They were staring.

Reid made for the first person he knew that he saw, which happened to be Morgan.

"Is everyone staring at me?" Reid glanced around nervously.

"No, you're being paranoid, but e-"

"I have been touched by so many strangers today and I am already highly uncomfortable so I am not being paranoid but cautious due to previous recent events."

Morgan gave Reid a look as if to say 'seriously, kid?' and then spoke, "Everyone wants to talk to you."

"So they are staring."

"No. Not _everyone in the building_. I meant the team. Come on." Morgan started to the briefing room.

"You should be more specific." He followed his possibly-ex-friend, shaking in his shoes. That damn Unsub. His damn father, come to think of it.

Reid was met by a room of pitying faces. That wasn't what he'd expected at all. Maybe he was reading their expressions wrong. Whatever it was, it was close to pity. Possibly betrayal.

"Where's Elle?" He asked as a way of stalling.

"On assignment in Washington. She was notified." Hotch said with vaguely dead tone.

Gideon had to be the one to initiate the subject discussion, "I thought twenty-two was an impressive age to get into the BAU, but you must've been, what, fifteen?" Reid nodded as guiltily as he did quietly, allowing Gideon to continue, "And you would've been fourteen when you entered the Academy." Reid nodded again. "Why'd you do it?"

"My dad, uh, left me with my mom. Her schizophrenia was getting worse every day and I didn't know what to do. I was taking care of her and myself before I was five but she needed care that I obviously couldn't provide. I had to be eighteen to assume care officially so I set the plan in action, got anonymous help with the technical stuff, had my mom committed... Then all that was left to do was keep living. I was contacted for this job. I didn't plan on getting into something so high-profile."

It was definitely pity on most of their faces. Gideon still looked like he was running an interrogation. Garcia... Wait, what? He didn't recognise her expression, but he was sure it wasn't appropriate to the situation. "What is it?"

"I think I was your anonymous techie."


	3. Suspension

**For fluff's sake, just _pretend Season 1 takes place right now (2017)_. It'll make sense as to why later. I made Strauss more evil than she is canon but it's not quite OOC I would say. Plot reasons. Sorry this is kind of a short one. I'll make it up to you all eventually.**

 _"I think I was your anonymous techie."_

Reid opened his mouth, then closed it again, then opened it, "That makes sense. Thank you, by the way. You terminated your contact before I could say that."

"Plot twists aside," Gideon eyed Garcia, "We still need to do something about this."

"Let's take a step back and look at the situation." Hotch said, "In the state of Virginia a minor permitted to live alone by a parent is subject to neglect, and that's the parents to blame."

"Same in Nevada. In Massachusetts emancipation is an option with unspecified age but I didn't know at the time because I'm pretty sure I was the only minor attending MIT."

Hotch nodded, "That's right, you did go to university at a _very_ young age. That's got to count for something in getting you out of trouble in the area of what minors can do and what you violated. If you had a justified reason for faking the ID we could get you off with no charges."

Reid, for once, had nothing to say. He looked in his lap and fidgeted.

"If I may, sir, little five-year-old Reid told me." Garcia said gently. She understood why the subject would still be more than a little sore.

"With his consent." Hotch looked to Reid. He nodded.

"His father had left him alone with his schizophrenic mother. He told me that he was doing everything he could for her but it wasn't working and he needed to put a plan into action so he would be eighteen sooner rather than later so he could take legal responsibility over her and get her the held she really, really needed. I remember he used two really's. I had to help him. Honestly I wasn't going to but I had to ask how old he was and he said 'five, but five years, seven months, one week, two days and nine hours. My mom doesn't remember the minute.' and I broke. The message wasn't even meant for me. It was the middle man's and he forwarded it to me and I just..."

"You're not in trouble, Garcia, you don't have to justify helping a child." Hotch's hard features had melted. Reid was very glad he had been so adorable as to convince a super-hacker like Garcia to help him. He mentally thanked the middle man for noticing Garcia's soft side and deciding to show her his exact words. "We do have a good very reason, though. Juries are compassionate to this kind of thing, if there is a case made out of it."

"Reid, if we present this, your father would be charged with neglect and there would be termination of parental rights there. Since your mother can't take care of you that would make you legally free. Your level of education has to count for something, plus you've proven that you're capable of living on your own." Morgan offered up.

"Garcia, you and Reid will go make any documents you might've altered right again. It should be safe to do that now because nobody will be checking. I think we have a good enough case for him that I can go and tell Strauss. Even she has to have a heart about this and the sooner I report the better. It would come out in the kidnapping report anyway."

Garcia and Reid went into her lair and Garcia did some things that took a while that Reid didn't understand.

"Working on that with you for so long is the thing that let my brain know that mt heart was still working, you know. It's a big part of the reason I agreed to joining the FBI." Garcia didn't look back at Reid while she was typing away.

"Well, you working with me for so long is the thing that got me into the FBI as well. We brought each other here." Reid mused.

"Come here. Fill in the dates for these ones." Garcia scooted back so Reid could access the computer. Garcia was pleased to see that their little genius at least had some knowledge about how to work a computer.

"It's that easy?" He asked as he finished.

"No, no, no, not at all, honey. I did all of the hard parts for you." She reclaimed her computer and reviewed the data just to make sure it made sense, "Oh my god. It just occurred to me that you were born in the 21st century. You should be the most tech savvy person here."

"I know enough to find hackers online. That was the only technological feat I've ever accomplished, and I went to MIT."

"How have you fit so much into your tiny little sixteen year old life?" Garcia shook her head and started finding some more stuff she had screwed up for that five year old years ago.

"Rushing as fast as inhumanly possible. There's a good reason I depend on coffee for life." Reid said as he switched chairs with Garcia and rectified another document.

They were chatting away when Hotch knocked and walked in, followed by Strauss.

There was a strange pain in Hotch's eyes as he spoke that he specifically let the two see, "Spencer... I regret to inform you that you will be suspended until your _case_ has gone to trial. The state will figure out to do with you, and if they agree, you will get your job back. If not... well, it depends on what is decided. I need your badge and your gun."

Reid stood up slowly. That strange pain now registered to him as an apology that couldn't be delivered under Strauss's watchful eye. He handed over the required items and gave a look to Hotch that he hoped was equivalent to 'you did nothing wrong'.

"A court date will be determined and scheduled as soon as possible." Hotch gave a very slight nod.

Strauss butted in like she sensed there was some secret message in their words to each other, "Until then, you'll be cared for by your nearest capable relative."

Reid gritted his teeth, "With all due respect, I have been taking care of myself since I was old enough to understand that I had to. I did it then, I've been doing it since, and I can certainly do it now."

"That doesn't matter." She dismissed his reasoning, "If no one is available to take you in, you will be put into the foster system where you will remain until the court decides what to do with you, which will either be to send you to kiddy jail or keeping you a foster _kid_." Hotch's jaw tightened so visibly that Reid almost thought Strauss was about to get a fist to the face. The woman continued, "You can leave now."

Reid glared for enough time that his feelings were made loud and clear, "I will be back."

"Is that a threat, Mr. Reid?" Strauss smiled.

"No, it's a promise, and it's Doctor." He pushed his way past the witch and fled the building, leaving Strauss to walk smugly back to her office.


	4. Goodbye

Reid would just go back for his stuff later. He felt like he had to make an exit after what had happened with Strauss. She decided to suddenly have it out for him just in time, didn't she?

Public transport was a pain. He felt like everyone knew that he had done something wrong. They were all watching him to see what he would do next. He didn't need that. He got off before his stop and walked the rest of the way. Quantico foot traffic wasn't terrible, and the relative quiet would give him time to think.

Or it would've if his phone hadn't rung. It was Hotch.

"Yeah?" Reid answered.

"I am sorry this happened to you. It's my fault. I should've kept it in the team until we had a legal decision and it was out of Strauss's hands. Or maybe if someone else had told her. She hates me, and she's getting to me through you."

"I don't blame you for anything. I believe we took the best course of action, and the fact that a superior was notified as soon as you all had this information may be helpful in court. It does show responsibility of actions, and if nothing else, it shows that the rest of the team is innocent." Reid turned the corner onto his street.

"Reid, if you do end up in foster care," Hotch said. The last two words alone were enough to scare Reid. "Then any one of us would be willing to legally take you in and then emancipate you, however long the processes take."

Reid was quiet for a minute as he considered it, "Thank you... That's reassuring."

"Given your performance on the written exams to get into the FBI, I'm sure some age guidelines could be waved to let you back in. If at all possible, you should also prepare to not fail some physical tests."

Reid had to smile a little at the implications, "So you think I'll get far enough to be able to test in?"

"I think," Hotch said, "That you will be coming back to this team no matter what, but you might have to be more impressive in your scoring to be worth ignoring the rules for."

"Understood." Reid was hopeful, and he let that come through in his voice.

"That said, Strauss has still organised for you to be taken. Some workers will be to your apartment a few hours. I'm sorry I can't give you an exact time. You should get whatever things... I don't know how long this arrangement will last."

"Thank you for letting me know." Reid said with a finality to his voice, then moved the phone from his ear to hang up. He was stopped when he heard "Reid." called through the speaker. He put the phone back to his ear, "Yes?"

Hotch didn't hesitate, "I still respect you as an adult. We all do."

Reid had to smile, "Thank you. That means a lot."

Hotch stopped to think of what to say, settling on "Goodbye, Reid." and the line went dead.

Reid pocketed his phone and continued walking.

Entering his home, all he could feel was guilt. This was his apartment, but he had somehow cheated to get it. He had cheated to get where he was in life, and now he would have to pay for it. Reid stood by the doorway in front of his overfilled bookshelf. Every one of these books had a special place in his heart, had changed him in a special way, and he would have to abandon them. But he would get them back. He would get back his space. All of it. Every last square centimetre of this place would be his again.

He stalked purposefully to his bedroom and felt for the shoe box under his bed, pulling it out and opening it in his lap on the floor to see the thousands of dollars in cash that he had stashed away and saved up. He could live off of a government salary, but everyone always forgot that he had written some books, as well. The money from those was emergency and/or luxury money. Whatever he wanted to use it for first. Now would be emergency time. If he could keep paying his rent, even without a job, and keep everything just as it was, it would be a luxury as well. He folded up the wads of money and shoved them deep into his pockets, hoping to a God that he didn't believe in that he wouldn't be searched or help up.

He emptied one of his go-bags, no longer needed for the job he didn't have, and replaced most of its contents with more day-to-day than FBI-investigation items. Lots of clothes. He tried not to think that he was packing up to leave his life. It was just a pause. Not a stop, or an end. He would be back. He was taking... an involuntary break. Of course he was. Because Hotch thought he worked too hard. Hotch, his brilliant, selfless boss, just told him to take some time off. It was an order, sadly, that he couldn't refute. Reid would just have to wait, now, until Hotch said he had taken a long enough break and could come hom- back to work. He would be back. Just a vacation...

This worked for a little while. Distractions. Delusions. Denial. It worked for long enough for Reid to tell his neighbour that he would be gone for a while. For long enough for him to give this and next month's rent to the manager. Long enough for him to pack and prepare, but not long enough for him to say goodbye.

He was prepared when the knock sounded at his door. Prepared, but in no way ready. He answered with as much dignity as he could muster, constructed delusion shattered by the reality of the situation.

The two men standing before him looked completely unlike the villainous brutes he had imagined ready to take his life from him. They were both much shorter than him, but about the same build. The one on the left had brown hair cut military style, that didn't look nearly as intimidating as it might if he hadn't had a baby face. The right one was the smallest, and noticeably so. The only indication that he was any older than twelve was his long, greasy, pink hair that no parent would allow a twelve-year-old. Really, both of these people looked significantly younger than Reid. He wondered if they were.

"Uh," Pinky said, "Spencer Reid?"

Reid just nodded. Neither seemed to know exactly what they were doing. That was... assuring.

Babyface held out an ID that Reid inspected carefully. "Come with us." Babyface said after he deemed that Reid was just stalling by checking his credentials. The ex-agent nodded and followed Pinky and Babyface outside, stopping to lock his door despite their looks, and pocketing his key while at the same time checking that his money was still there.

Walking downstairs was surreal. Reid felt dizzy, but was completely balanced. He was hyper aware, but everything was fuzzy. He could hear his heartbeat, but not the voices of the men leading him. He was shaking, walking, but paralysed.

This was it.

He said goodbye.


	5. NOT A KID

**I know it's been literally forever I'm sorry guys I just didn't know how to continue. I hope this is an okay chapter.**

 **Legally in Virginia when you're sixteen you can petition the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court to be emancipated but I'm gonna pretend that that's not an option just to make it more dramatic. Otherwise he would just send a few letters and be back in his apartment and only have the FBI legality to worry about, but I want him under as much stress as possible.**

* * *

Reid was in hell. It had been a week and he could already feel his brain physically shrinking. He felt like he was five years old with how he was treated; bed times, set meals, shared chores, stupid rules of what he could and couldn't do like drink coffee, keep his light on past 9:30, read instead of talking to other people all the time, make his own food. And there were punishments for these things as well! He had already been given five "time-outs" by the third day. He liked them actually, because of the peace. Too bad he was figured out and now his punishments were all manual labour tasks saved for the older kids-which he supposed he was, but he refused to take the name 'kid' without a fight-but had been all saved up for him. On the bright side, he thought, maybe after all of this he would be more likely to pass the physical.

His greatest punishment was not having his phone. Not because he was obsessed with technology or anything, but because he felt so far away from his team. There was still a fear planted in him that there would be some emergency that he wouldn't be able to respond to/ The team would need him. But knowing that they wouldn't was worse than the phantom fear. He was no longer part of them. Even if he had his phone, they wouldn't be allowed to tell him anything.

He was sitting inside doing nothing, because he wasn't allowed to do anything and he was tired of being punished, when he heard the door open and a familiar voice ask for whoever was in charge. Reid froze where he was sitting on the floor. It was Morgan. Was it really? It had to be. He jumped up and made it to the foyer in two bounds, grinning wildly. There, just as he had expected, he saw Morgan in the middle of showing his badge to Helen. Screw Helen. She hated him.

Helen sighed and Reid could practically see her rolling her eyes. He decided to stay behind the wall for now. "What exactly do you need with Spencer, Agent?"

Reid cringed as he always did at his first name. He was on a last-name basis with almost everybody except old high school classmates, and those people scared him.

"That's between the FBI and Reid, ma'am," Morgan said, forcefully over-enunciating 'Reid.'

Helen was quiet for a second, then grunted in submission like it would be some huge task to let Reid do anything other than work and nothing at all. "I'll go get him."

"No need!" Reid popped out from behind the wall, trying to hide his smile.

Helen gave him a dirty look. He ignored it. "Is this what you do with your free time? Eavesdrop? If I see you doing anything like that again I'll make sure you don't have the opportunity to. And what the hell have you done to get the FBI after you, huh? Snuck out and robbed someone, maybe?"

Reid gritted his teeth, looking between her and Morgan. Morgan looked oddly amused. "Shut up," Reid groaned, his happiness completely drained.

Helen kept spewing insults, so Reid ignored her and nodded to Morgan to follow him outside.

"Where the hell are you going!?" Helen demanded.

"OUT OF HELL!" Reid turned around and spewed. Morgan took a step back from him.

"Keep your juvenile ass on this property!"

"IT'S YOUR ASS YOU SHOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT 'CAUSE AS SOON AS I GET OUT OF HERE YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A GLOCK 22 UP IT AND FIRING!"

"Alright, calm down." Morgan ushered him outside and spoke again as soon as the door had shut. "This place isn't good for you."

"I don't like being treated like a child," Reid asserted sternly, then took a breath to mitigate his anger as much as he could. He hoped Morgan knew that his outburst was pent up from a week's worth of anger and mistreatment, but hoped he didn't guess that he had done it before. "So... not that I don't mind you getting me out of there even if only for a few minutes, but why are you here?"

"You haven't been answering your phone, we were all a little worried," Morgan said.

"Yeah, well, don't be. I had it taken away."

Morgan snorted. Reid glared. Morgan cleared his throat and wiped off his smirk. "Well, we got a lawyer on our side for your case. It's coming together okay, in your favour, I mean, and the hearing is set a month from now."

Reid stifled his immediate response of wanting to protest the length of the month. He mentally chided himself for being so childish. He was not a child. He nodded. "That's good," pause. "What's that worst that could happen? Not rhetorically."

"Juvie."

It did not sit well with Reid how quickly Morgan was able to answer, and how that could be a real possibility. "At least it's not here."

"We can see if we can get you transferred if it's that bad," Morgan suggested, continuing walking to the bureau vehicle he recognised.

"It is that bad," Reid confirmed.

"Why does she hate you so much?"

"Because I'm not a kid," Reid found himself cracking his knuckles.

"Why do you hate her?"

"Lot's of reasons. Mainly because she thinks I'm a kid."

Morgan took in a breath when he reached the van and leaned against it, taking off his sunglasses to look at Reid. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but you are a kid, Pretty Boy. You just are. Gimme another reason."

"She hates me because I break all the rules because they're stupid, ridiculous rules. I hate her because she punishes me and because she has it out for me. She said I needed braces because if CPP came around to check on the _kids_ and they saw my teeth they'd call it neglect. She says I can't have any coffee because it stunts growth but I AM AT LEAST A FUCKING FOOT TALLER THAN YOU, HELEN!" He yelled the last part at the door, hoping she heard. "She's inventing things for me to do! She punched a hole in the wall for me to fix and threatened to kick me out when I said I couldn't do it 'cause I'm not a damn carpenter." Reid huffed and balled his fists. "Etcetera."

Morgan put his sunglasses back on, satisfied. "Sounds like a bitch." He started walking around to the driver's side. "Hop in. You need some time away to get back to being Reid."

"Can I drive?"

Morgan paused and looked at him. "Can you?"

"Yeah."

"I've never seen you drive before."

"Well I have," Reid's voice tightened.

Morgan put his hands up in surrender. "Simmer down. You can drive." Morgan threw him the keys.

Reid jumped into the driver's seat and was already starting it up before Morgan sat down. As soon as the door was closed, Reid slammed on the gas and shot away from the hellhole.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Morgan held out a hand like that would help, using his other to buckle quickly.

"Sorry," Reid slowed down. He set course for the freeway, though. "Will I ever get my job back?"

Morgan settled back in his seat before answering. "Eventually, yeah, sure, bu probably not while you're still sixteen."

"How about seventeen?"

"If you last that long," Morgan said.

Reid scrunched up his face and moved into a different lane to turn. He didn't want to drive off his anger anymore. He wanted to go to his apartment and get physical copies of his PhD's to literally rub them in Helen's face. "What does that mean?"

"There are other things that could happen. And, man, if I'm being honest here, being away from adult responsibility just a week really turned you into a teenager."

Reid swerved into the lane to take him to the freeway. Illegally.

Morgan made the right choice in remaining silent. On the freeway, Reid looked at his actions from a third person perspective. 85mph.

He could see Morgan's point.

But that just made him angrier. 95mph. He was so full of anger. Why? Why was this happening? 100mph. Because he _was_ a child. Everyone was right. 105mph.

"Reid, slow down," Morgan said cautiously, nervously. Reid's knuckles turned white. He slapped on the siren. 110mph. He gritted his teeth.

"Spencer, STOP!" Morgan commanded. Reid really, really wanted to slam on the breaks, just to show Morgan. Just to show him. Two things stopped him: He didn't want to die, and he recognised 'just to show him' as a very teenager thought.

He slowed and turned the siren off, and was overcome with shame.

"Pull off," Morgan said angrily.

Now he'd really done it.

The Pygmalion effect, Reid thought absently below the sound of his heart in his head, but negative. If they expect him to act like this, then he would, consciously or not.

He turned off the nearest exit, feeling Morgan's eyes on him searing holes in his skin. He swallowed hard.


	6. Coffee and Crime

**Omg Guest in the reviews your review literally made my week thank you so so much wow I wish you put a name so I could thank you more personally but thank you. It's been a kinda crap week so I really needed your review thanks again it means a lot to get a compliment like yours.**

 **So I'm updating so soon just because this Guest made me feel good. Y'all should thank this mysterious Guest.**

 **IMPORTANT NOTICE: I don't actually say y'all in real life I promise.**

 **About this chapter: The main POV in this chapter will be third person Morgan because I think you guys need to see his thoughts and justifications for some things that might otherwise seem out of character. Basically, the POV switch is my safety blanket. Also, I need to follow him to the BAU next chapter, and I can't do that writing as Reid because Reid can't go there.**

 ** _And as I'm sure you've all noticed I never proofread. So please let me know if there are any mistakes that make it hard to understand something. Thanks._**

* * *

Reid felt like a kid in trouble as soon as he parked, which he guessed he was. He half thought Morgan was going to tell him to go run laps or something. But the profiler saw Reid's shame and figured he had learned whatever lesson he needed to from just a stern look.

Morgan almost felt bad for the kid. Actually, he did.

But he pushed that pity aside to think of some other time. He had come to get Reid for a reason, more than just to check on him.

Morgan glanced around the lot Reid had parked in. There was a shopping centre right across the street, and he saw the Starbucks logo from even here.

He sighed intentionally to let Reid know that any hard feelings or punishment were being blown away with it. "Coffee?"

Reid nodded with quiet, hesitant eagerness and began to walk. Morgan opened the passenger side door and then the glove compartment, pulling a bureau case file and waving it at Reid. "We were hoping you might be able to help us with this one." He closed the compartment and door, turning back to Reid to see his face a mixture of emotions. Morgan read them in order of intensity: Surprise, thankfulness, pride, confusion, curiosity, worry. All warranted, he thought.

"Uh," Reid snapped out of his bewilderment, "Yeah, sure, I can try." He swallowed heavily so Morgan could hear it even over the distant traffic. "Are you allowed to do this?" He asked more quietly.

Morgan huffed a small laugh and shook his head in comedy at Reid. "You're suddenly worried about rules? Man, do I have news for you: You've broken quite a pretty few."

Reid's eyebrow briefly knit and he looked like he was sounding out a new word while reading, looking at the floor. He looked back up. "You have a point. Looks like I'm about to break to more. Coffee."

The two walked in silence that sat awkwardly with fading tension from the drive that brought them here. Morgan still could barely connect the yelling, speeding, swearing, angry as all hell Reid he had just seen to his calm and collected genius coworker.

They entered and Reid's steps fell out of line with each other, like he had paused but forgotten that he wasn't moving until he remembered not to. "I don't have any money."

"You don't have a salary either, Pretty Boy. I'll take care of it," Morgan assured him, leading the tension away as best he could. He needed collected Reid's mind on this. They all did.

The manila folder in his hands suddenly felt incriminating. He started to rethink whether he should he letting Reid see it or not. He knew that young minds were susceptible to things, that they shouldn't see the violence and horror that Reid's already had, but that was just it. Reid had already seen these things. Morgan had been sure he could handle it, but after his show of absolute immaturity, he wasn't all that positive anymore.

The two ordered and found a table in a corner away from the general chatter and populous of the place. Morgan opened the folder and pointed as was needed. "This is Jacob Melbourne, twenty-three, abducted on his way to his apartment from the Stanford University library on Friday night. His roommates reported him missing when he wasn't back the following morning."

"Why did they call it in so fast? I wouldn't think it's unusual for college students to be gone Friday nights and not come back immediately," Reid shifted in slight discomfort looking at the living photo of Jacob Melbourne. 'So he sees it, too,' Morgan thought.

"He wasn't the type to go out at all. Usually he would just study at home but his laptop broke so he went to the library to use the public ones. According to his roommate, Kyle Bearing. He's not even close to being a suspect. He was with his girlfriend at her place that night, and she can confirm."

Reid nodded. "And the body," He pointed to it. "I assume that's why you came to find me, since the abduction seems pretty usual. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'll assume he either walked there or parked far away."

Morgan nodded. "He didn't drive, and the library was about a fifteen minute walk. He's the first victim that we know of." He took out the stack of coronary pictures and reports and handed them to Reid.

He frowned in looking at them. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Mmm. Rigor mortis says he was killed at least a day before his last meal-"

"-which was his own hair and feces..."

Morgan watched carefully the repulsion on Reid's face, somehow relieved by it; knowing that he still had that normal response and hadn't been dulled to it.

"That means he was held," Reid said.

"But the problem is the body was found on Sunday, and if you look at the second victim, Roland McClain," Morgan stacked up the body photos upside down on the table and turned the page of the file.

Reid scanned it and spoke with a troubled tone. "Body found Sunday afternoon with virtually the same report, but he was reported missing on Friday afternoon by... one of his teachers after not showing up for classes for two days without notifying anyone." He looked up at Morgan. "I thought you said Melbourne was the first victim."

"He was killed first."

"And McClain went to Howard University, not Stanford," Reid considered.

"The Unsub would've been holding them both at the same time, but working quickly and efficiently."

"Too quickly, too sure for his first time."

"He already has his type, M.O., and he's chosen University campuses as his hunting ground."

"I'm his type," Reid said almost wistfully. "That's why you brought me the case file. I'm his type, and it's a local case."

Morgan nodded.

"Well," Reid strengthened his voice with audible difficulty, "I don't go to university, and I'm not twenty-three, so I'll be fine." He looked at the counter where they put the finished orders and hopped up, coming back with the two of theirs. "We must've been too engrossed to hear," he said, placing Morgan's down in front of him.

Morgan could hear something off in his voice. It was flat and still. Scared, but not showing any fear. This couldn't be the first time the kid was scared by a case.

"What's got you freaked out?" Morgan asked as casually as he could. He didn't want to set Reid off on another outburst.

Reid drained a quarter of his coffee in just a few seconds. "It's so close, and I don't have a badge or a gun. And I can't do anything about it but wait and hope he doesn't expand his hunting ground."

"You can also think about the case, and let us know if you think of anything, and you can count on us to do the rest, alright?" Morgan said softly.

One side of Reid's mouth twitched up in something like a smile before his lips parted and it kicked the expression off his face. "How do I contact you if my phone was taken away."

Morgan tilted his head back and forth like he was tossing around ideas inside of his mind. "I've got two ideas for you if you're up for 'em. First one is to behave, wait for us to figure out what we can, earn your phone back and tell us what you've got, and then continue to be good until we figure out your personal mess. Or second, find a way to get your phone back with very calculated rule breaking, call me or anyone else with whatever you figure out, or whatever you need, and hold out doing that in a way where that bitch Helen can't testify against you in court."

Reid had somehow already finished his coffee. Morgan didn't know how he wasn't vibrating right now, because he knew Reid would've gotten the strongest thing he could.

"I like the second one."

Morgan nodded with a friendly smile. "I thought you might. But, hey, kid, listen. You're sixteen, okay? And it's alright. People are gonna tell you what to do and you just get away with whatever you can, but remember that you are a kid to them, even if me and the rest of the team don't think you are, and you can't just do and say whatever you want around those people."

Reid nodded, understanding Morgan's logic and not seeming to get at all offended, which was perfect. "That said," Morgan leaned back and sipped his drink for dramatic effect. "I hope this is your 'teenage rebellion' stage, 'cause if it is, I want in."

Reid smiled truthfully. "I guess I'll steal my phone back and keep you posted on my teenly shenanigans."

Morgan crossed his arms and chuckled. Count on Reid to use the word 'shenanigans.'

"I'll just read the rest of this file," Reid said, settling down from his happiness high. Morgan did see his fingers twitching a little while holding the paper, and smiled knowing that even Reid wasn't immune to caffeine jitters.


	7. Just Survive

**I think this is now my favourite of all of my fics which means it'll be getting special attention and very regular updates until I either get too busy to ignore my worldly duties like I am now or until it falls out of favour with me.**

* * *

Reid found his phone an hour after Morgan dropped him back off, refusing to let him drive again, reasonably so. He dodged Helen the rest of the afternoon until the inevitable confrontation at dinner where she had demanded to search his person for his missing phone. Reid was pretty sure that was illegal, but he decided to keep quiet and let her, beyond relieved that he had hidden it in his pillow (it had a zipper to get to the stuffing) before facing her.

Of course, she decided to call him out of whatever she could in front of everyone else. Some of the younger kids looked confused, though the ones about Reid's age watched like it was their greatest form of entertainment.

"So what did the FBI want from you?" She asked passive-aggressively while putting a whole half a potato in her mouth.

"My help. On a case," Reid was curt, hoping to force her response with a full mouth. She didn't fall into it, nodding and swallowing before pressing her lips together in a mean way that said she didn't believe a word he said.

"And why would they want _you_?"

"I have told you I'm ex-FBI," he bit his tongue to keep himself from making a comment on either her stupidity or ignorance or terrible memory. Instead of one of his possible comments, the audience around the table laughed at him.

"He's a pathological liar," someone whispered loudly to be heard, no doubt one of the older ones. Reid clenched his jaw and swallowed nothing.

"I'm telling the truth," he insisted, voice tight.

"Yeah, just like he _totally_ has PhD's from Harvard," another kid added in.

"M.I.T." Reid corrected indignantly. That only made them laugh more.

"And a photographic memory as well!" Everyone erupted into a blaring fit of hysteria, Helen the loudest of them, making a show of wiping tears from her eyes.

Reid felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes and refused to blink them into existence. "Eidetic."

But they couldn't hear him, his quiet shaking voice, over their criticisms of falsifications. Reid heard his heart in his ears but it wasn't enough to drown out the sound of humiliation.

He blinked down and let one of those forbidden tears fall.

* * *

"How is he?" Hotch asked as soon as Morgan stepped into the building. Morgan searched his mind for some words to describe what he had seen of Reid, but found none that wouldn't cause problems.

"Let's just say he was way better off on his own." Morgan rubbed his head, stress adrenaline from when Reid was driving having given him a headache.

Hotch put down his stack of papers and took a step closer to Morgan. "Can you tell me what happened?"

So Morgan did, and in it he did his very best to justify Reid's behaviour, because he knew there was justification. Reid wasn't the kind to just act out.

Hotch nodded along to the story until Morgan had finished, and Hotch took a deep breath like he had been holding his. "I agree; he's better off on his own. Let's get his case moving."

* * *

Reid had somehow managed to survive and escape dinner, though he barely ate for nausea was wracking his body. Walking quickly to his bed Helen's words echoed in his ears. 'See, this is why you're so disgustingly thin. It's unnatural.'

Entering the room, the window just above his bed became incredibly enticing. He was sure he could fit through it. He would be able to get through if it weren't for the fly screen. His hands shook with anticipation and residual caffeine.

He approached the window, nervous glances behind him punctuating his steps. He pulled back the curtain, opened the window, and examined the screws keeping the screen in place, cold air pouring into the room and making his cheeks tingle. After some makeshift measurements with his fingers, he closed the curtain and sat on his bed. If someone were to come in, he wanted to look as innocent as possible.

He sat and took his time biting a nail into a shape that should be compatible with the divot in the screws. More glances to check the door and he went up to the window again, putting his nail into the metal crease. His heart pounded. He was somehow more afraid that Helen would find him right now than he was when he was chasing Unsubs. Maybe because when he was on the side of justice, it was what he was supposed to be doing. Now, he was just breaking rules.

Reid almost felt as though he would break his nail before he could even get one of the four screws to turn, but he felt the snap into loose movement instead of the snap of his nail coming off and his urge to leave was reinitiated. The tip of his finger throbbed and felt dangerously close to abandoning him when he finally got the last one undone. He twisted it fully off with the pads of his fingers and celebrated silently the nearness of at least temporary freedom.

He slid the screen between his mattress and the wooden slats holding it up, putting the screws inside his pillow as he took his phone out of it. He checked for any messages, but found none. He pocketed the device and breathed in as he climbed up onto the sill and put his feet on the roof. The two story jump would be no problem. The freedom and night would catch him.

Just as he put his hand on the glass to close it behind him, he froze in panic. A voice from the door paralyzed him: "Spencer!"

* * *

 _ **PLEASE TELL ME IF you want a scene or two of Reid interacting with one the younger kids (will be OC).**_


	8. Emily And The Rabbit

**Every time a review pops up it increases my want to update. This is now my most reviewed fic and I appreciate every single one so much. I thought I'd start writing little notes in response up here in thanks. I'm just starting with the most recent ones so sorry to any old reviewers I'm not mentioning by name I love you too I promise. Sorry I took a little long on this update. School just picked up insanely and I ran out of time.**

 **Helloooo (AKA Guest 3)- Okay this 'great idea' has now been continued and thank you so much for calling it that. Sadly there are no other fics like this that I have found. I'm actually only writing this cuz I wanted to read one and I couldn't find any. If I do come across another I'll try to remember to post some promo on mine tho**

 **sherryola- Oh don't worry Hotch will be paying Helen a visit in a little while. Yeah the team would probabl be able to get him away but this _is_ supposed to just be super temporary and they don't want to upset the system for him lest that impede their chances of getting him legally back to where he was. Als, if hey just got him out, I wouldn't have very much to work with in terms of minor conflicts lol**

 **other Guest- YES! THANKS!**

 **Guest- Omgggggg this is so sweet I screenshotted it and showed it to my mom and she almost cried in happiness thanks so much seriously**

 **tlcroft- You have no idea how much I appreciate your long review like the fact that someone would take time out to write that much for me is amazing and I love it so much how you commented on specific details it makes me feel like the small things I've done have meaning and it's super nice**

 **Mysterious Opinionated Person- Thank you thank you your review actually came in right after some pretty shitty events in my day and it just made it so much better so you have great timing and it really helped me through the rest of my day**

 **Fangtasia- I love seeing little predictions like yours because they either give me some new ideas or solidify something I already had in mind and I am a person who craves affirmation**

 **Styxxsomega- Asking for more is literally the best way to get more with me and your comment was basically the one to instigate my feeling of responsibility to update and act upon my urge to**

 **Mozart's Fantasy- I live to inspire emotion in people and characters I'm so glad you feel for Reid cuz that pretty much my whole purpose for writing this (except for wanting to make Reid my age hehhhh)**

* * *

"Spencer!" A small voice gasped from the doorway.

Reid was paralysed but somehow his head moved on its own to find the witness. His heart felt like it was living in his fingertips and stomach at the same time.

The little girl walked further into the room, glancing around like she too was a culprit. Reid's demeanor eased, though he was still half out the window. He really needed to move, but his body wouldn't let him.

"What are you doing?" She whispered, hugging her stuffed rabbit to her chest.

Red finally managed to slide back inside. "Nothing. Nothing, I was just..."

"Leaving?" She suggested, tilting her head to the side innocently like she didn't fully understand the implications of sneaking out.

Reid swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, leaving."

The girl glanced at the cracked open door behind her, the light pouring in from the hallway stopping just behind her so the only thing illuminating her was the slight yellow glow from the floor and the silver from the moon. Other than that, she stood in complete darkness, shielded by it, now only holding her floppy grey rabbit to herself with one hand, the other fiddling with the hem of her pastel floral print dress. Her black hair barely met her shoulders and floated around her neck in the breeze that penetrated the still atmosphere of the home. "Are you going to the FBI?" She blinked at him a few times, face relaxed in sincerity.

"I don't know." He paused. "You believe me?"

She nodded innocently and inched forward, closer to Reid and the window. "I know you're not lying. They all think you're lying, and I tried to tell them you're not, but they don't believe me either. They hate me, too, but that's okay, because you know the FBI and you can make them put all of the bullies in jail. I told everyone that if they keep being mean then you'll put them in jail, but they didn't believe me. Nobody believes me. That's why I came up here. I hate them, too. I wanted to leave but this is as much as I can leave; to another room." At some point during her explanation, she started wiping her eyes with the long ear of her rabbit. Reid couldn't bear it. But it seemed so set up...

Screw it.

"Do you want to... come with me?"

"To the FBI?" Her voice rose in hope.

"If you want, yeah." Reid looked at the door again, heart beating faster the longer they stood here with the window wide open.

The girl nodded vigorously and wiped her eyes some more, then sniffed.

"Okay," Reid held out a hand and ushered her to the window, all of the terrible possibilities flashing through his mind. Helen was the least of his worried now. He had to protect this girl, and he was about to shove her out a window.

"What's your name?"

"Emily," She said in a rehearsed type of way with some hesitation. Her tone wasn't authentic.

Reid smiled a little, but the fear and nerves killed it quickly. "I have a friend named Emily in the FBI. Actually, you kinda look like her."

Emily giggled as she placed one hand on the window sill, still clutching her rabbit. "Maybe she's my mom!"

"Mmmm," Reid feigned thought to give Emily some hope. "I dunno. I'm pretty sure my Emily doesn't have a daughter, but we can ask her if you want."

"Does she have a son? Because then that could be me. Everyone says I'm a boy but I'm not but they don't believe me, so if she also thinks I'm a boy then she thinks I'm her son."

Reid almost gasped, and he wasn't exactly sure why. He supposed things made more sense now, and it was also surprising. This poor girl... He had to confirm. But first, he had to climb through the window. He decided that he would go through, then pull Emily through and keep her from falling off the roof from outside. The window was low enough, but he would have to get her to trust him with her rabbit first.

He motioned for her to stay and slipped through the window himself and into the night. It was colder than he thought it would be, and windy. though he assumed that was just from the height. Stepping through the window felt like he left the existing universe behind. His nerves were replaced by a strange euphoria that he was unfamiliar with. 'This is how it feels to break the rules, just because,' he thought, and grinned. Any shakiness or possibility of flaking out melted through the cold grey tiles of the roof.

"I need to hold your friend so you can come up. Is that okay?" Reid didn't want to misgender the rabbit.

Emily hesitated before handing the rabbit slowly up to Reid.

"Okay, good." He held it with one hand and held out his other, desperately trying to keep himself from slipping off the roof with his shoe using a shingle like a ledge. "I'm gonna pull you up, but you have to climb a little as well, okay?"

She nodded and took his forearm so their arms made a strong link, paying more attention to her rabbit than to where she was putting her feet to climb up. Reid felt incredibly off balance. His foot slipped off the shingle and his heart jumped out of his chest and into his ears. He didn't fall only because Emily was acting as a counterweight. His slip, however, did pull her just outside.

"Can I put your rabbit in my pocket?" He asked as soon as she was out. He wanted both hands.

"If she'll be safer there." Emily said skeptically. Reid nodded and put the rabbit into his front pocket, deep enough that only her long floppy ears could be seen. He didn't let go of Emily, only held her hand instead of her arm. He closed the shutters and then the window. It hopefully would look like nothing had happened. Now to get down.

Reid had been fine with jumping himself, but now that there was a child with him, he couldn't risk that.

It occurred to him briefly that he was also a child, and that he was ready to risk anything with himself. He worried that maybe this was some downside to having thought of himself as an adult; his life didn't matter so much in comparison. But then, that could have resulted from any number of things. His job, for instance, where anyone's life was more important than his own. Or it could have arisen only recently as his life was destroyed in all ways except that he was still alive, which gave what was left of him so little meaning that he would be fine throwing it away or hurting himself. His lack of responsibility and worth spurred in him a need to self-destruct. He had already started, he knew, and there would be no going back. Not with this life.

These thoughts didn't even last a second.

He looked around. They would probably be able to slide down fairly easily if they got to the edge of the roof. But then the fall would still be too long.

"Come over here a second. I'm looking for a way down," He said, inching over along where the overhang they were on met the wall hosting the windows. At a glance, none were open. That was good.

Getting to the other side, he saw that there was a conveniently placed ladder he'd used before doing unnecessary labour like painting the outside the exact same colour as it already was. Unfortunately, it was still too far to reach. Not necessarily too far to get to some other way.

"Hold onto the window frame," Reid advised, standing up and letting go of Emily's hand.

Emily did as she was told. "What are you doing?" She asked quietly.

Reid looked at the ladder and the walls again. He could jump, maybe, but he wasn't exactly sure how close to the opposite wall the ladder was. If it was too far, he'd just knock it over and fall with it. He looked up. The ledge...

"I'm gonna see if I can get across to that ladder," he breathed nervously.

Reid looked up at the ledge another time. He would be able to reach it without jumping, no problem, but he couldn't be sure it would hold. He was tall but light. It was his best shot. They couldn't go back inside now.

He reached and his shirt came untucked. He suddenly felt foolish for having tried to assume proper attire in the first place. His fingers felt the ledge and closed above it. It was barely two centimetres, enough for just the tips of his fingers to sit upon the plaster clinging questionably to the side of the house. Reid questioned whether this or jumping was a better idea, but he'd already told Emily this was what he was doing, so he would do it.

He secured the best grip he could and stepped off the side of the roof.


End file.
